ADHD-related medication errors rose 299 percent between 2000 and 2021, according to new research published in Pediatrics on Sept. 18.
Experts from the Center for Injury Research and Policy and Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus examined 87,691 medication error cases involving attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder medications within the time period.
Among the most common errors identified in the study, researchers also found that:
- 54 percent had inadvertently taken or been given medication twice
- 13 percent had inadvertently taken or been given someone else's medication
- 13 percent had wrong medication taken or given
"The increase in the reported number of medication errors is consistent with the findings of other studies reporting an increase in the diagnosis of ADHD among U.S. children during the past two decades, which is likely associated with an increase in the use of ADHD medications," said Natalie Rine, PharmD, co-author of the study and director of the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children's Hospital, said in a news release.